Angels come up just short, allow Mariners to hold out playoff hopes for another day

SEATTLE — The Angels hoped to extremity the Seattle Mariners’ 20-year imagination of reaching the postseason.

They came up abbreviated successful a 6-4 nonaccomplishment to the Mariners connected Saturday night, but the metallic lining for the Angels is they volition present get to play 1 much crippled successful the playoff-like ambiance of an electrical T-Mobile Park successful Sunday’s play finale.

There volition beryllium 1 much aggravated crippled due to the fact that the Angels couldn’t rather decorativeness disconnected the Mariners, contempt taking a 4-3 pb successful the apical of the eighth connected a Jared Walsh three-run homer. They gave up 3 runs successful the bottommost of the eighth.

“To propulsion that disconnected would person been spectacular,” Manager Joe Maddon said. “Absolutely. And we had it successful our grasp and we past we mislaid it.”

Now they’ll get different accidental to ruin the Mariners season, with rookie Reid Detmers taking the ball. Detmers has not pitched successful the majors since earlier investigating affirmative for COVID successful August.

“I deliberation it’s it is bully to spot that,” Maddon said of Detmers pitching successful that benignant of atmosphere. “It’s bully for america to watch. It’s bully for him to participate. I cognize he’s acceptable for it. He’s excited astir it and yeah, it gives them a taste. All our guys are getting a sensation and responded truly well.”

The Mariners are 1 crippled down the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, who are tied for the 2 chaotic paper spots. The Toronto Blue Jays are tied with the Mariners.

Yes, it’s inactive imaginable that each 4 teams could upwind up tied, and determination are different two- and three-way necktie possibilities that could pb to Game 163 for those teams.

The Angels, of course, are specified bystanders to each of this. At 76-85, the Angels are going to decorativeness disconnected their sixth consecutive losing play connected Sunday.

While they person thing connected the line, they person surely pushed the Mariners successful the archetypal 2 games of this series, winning connected Friday nighttime and rallying for an eighth-inning pb connected Saturday.

It got distant with Steve Cishek connected the mound. Cishek deed Jerred Kelenic with a transportation and past helium walked pinch-hitter Jake Bauers, putting himself into a jam. He astir escaped, acknowledgment to 2 bully plays by 3rd baseman Jack Mayfield. But Cishek gave up a two-out, two-run azygous to Mitch Haniger connected a 3-and-2 pitch, and the Mariners re-took the lead.

A Kyle Seager azygous against Jimmy Herget gave the Mariners an security run, and sent the Angels to yet different loss.

For the past 2 months they’ve simply been auditioning players for aboriginal roles with the team, and connected Saturday nighttime they gave left-hander Jhonathan Diaz a test.

Diaz got the commencement for the Angels successful spot of Jaime Barria, who came up with a sore enarthrosis aft his erstwhile outing.

In that game, past Saturday, Diaz relieved Barria and pitched 7 innings against the Mariners. He was not rather arsenic crisp this time, but helium nevertheless kept the Angels successful the game.

Diaz gave up a tally successful the 3rd and past 2 much successful the 5th connected a homer by Haniger. He was past pulled aft 4-2/3 innings.

Diaz, a 25-year-old lefty successful his archetypal play successful the Angels system, posted a 4.15 ERA successful his archetypal 13 large league innings.

Los Angeles Angels’ Jared Walsh (20) met astatine location by Shohei Ohtani, left, and Brandon Marsh connected Walsh’s three-run location tally against the Seattle Mariners successful the eighth inning of a shot crippled Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021, successful Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

Diaz near with a 3-1 deficit, but Walsh took him disconnected the hook for a nonaccomplishment with a booming three-run homer successful the eighth.

Walsh crushed a 437-foot homer aft walks to Brandon Marsh and Shohei Ohtani, temporarily putting the Angels up 4-3.

“In a hostile environment, to travel up with a large deed is thing special,” Walsh said. “It’s thing we’d similar to physique off, going into adjacent year, to play successful these precocious strength games.”

Maddon said he’s hoping the Angels tin marque the indispensable improvements truthful they are contenders, playing successful beforehand of a assemblage similar this astatine Angel Stadium.

“In my mind’s eye, that’s what we’re looking guardant to,” Maddon said. “That’s what it’s expected to look and consciousness like. And we person to enactment precise hard to get to this constituent each twelvemonth long.”